ID :
148161
Sun, 10/31/2010 - 19:54
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/148161
The shortlink copeid
Ukraine elections to be democracy test -- observers
.
KIEV, October 31 (Itar-Tass) -- Local elections that will be held in
Ukraine this Sunday are expected to be a democracy test, European
observers say.
Undoubtedly the elections will become a test of the new power that has
been working for several months, head of the delegation of the Congress of
Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Gudrun
Mosler-Tornstrom said.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich assured that the elections would
be held under equal conditions for all the political forces. It will be an
exam for the authorities that must be passed successfully, Yanukovich
noted during the meeting with governors before the poll.
The president noted that in case of any violations from local
authorities, his reaction would be immediate.
By the way, for the Party of Regions, headed by Yanukovich, the
elections are not only a democracy test, but they will also check
population support for the president's policy.
For the young parties -- Strong Ukraine of Vice-Premier Sergei Tigipko
and the Front of Changes of Vice-Speaker Arseny Yatsenyuk, the debut
elections will be a kind of a starting ground. In the last presidential
elections, the leaders of the political forces were the third and the
fourth, respectively.
The participation of the Fatherland party headed by Ukrainian
opposition leader ex-premier Yulia Timoshenko remains the most intriguing.
During the election campaign, the party was split in many regions.
According to sociologists, in western regions many voters supporting
Timoshenko were disappointed with her and intended to vote in favour of
Oleg Tyagnibok's Freedom party.
Elections to a total of 15,000 local power bodies will be held in
Ukraine. Deputies to local councils will be elected according to the
combined majority and proportional system (50 percent in the party-list
vote and 50 percent in the majority constituency elections). In elections
of rural, village and city heads, the winner will be the candidate who
will gain most of the votes.
The Ukrainian Central Election Commission promises to announce the
results by November 5.
Deputy commission chairman Andrei Magera said the commission would not
work on the night to November 1. It is the function of regional
commissions to hold the elections and sum up the results. They will
receive reports from district commissions.
The mission of international observers CIS-EMO believes that all the
election commissions are entirely ready for the local elections in Ukraine
to be held on October 31, CIS-EMO executive director Marina Kochetkova
said on Saturday.
A mission member, political analyst Vladimir Artemenko of Russia also
noted that the mission did not find violations that could influence the
vote.
A total of 490 observers from foreign states and international
organisations and about 2,000 observers from Ukrainian public
organisations will monitor the elections in Ukraine.
According to the president, possible threat for the vote may be posed
by provocations. If no specially-prepared groups of provokers work, there
will be no problems, he believes.
More than 80,000 policemen and 4,500 servicemen of interior troops
will ensure order in the country during the vote day.
The Fatherland leader stated earlier that she would not recognise the
results of the elections in the Kiev and Lvov regions and to the Ternopol
city council, where the Freedom party gained a majority in the early
elections. Timoshenko claims that lists from false Fatherland
organisations are registered there on Yanukovich's instructions.
The Ukrainian committee of voters rules out a possibility of declaring
all the local elections invalid. There will be complaints in some regions
and attempts to declare vote results invalid in some constituencies,
committee board chairman Alexander Chernenko said. According to him, the
present version of the law on local elections does not envisage a
possibility to declare elections invalid. "Though everything can be in
Ukraine," he added.
.Earthquake measuring 5,1 strikes Kuriles area.
VLADIVOSTOK, October 31 (Itar-Tass) -- An earthquake measuring 5.1
occurred in the area of uninhabited Simushir Island on Sunday morning.
The quake took place at a depth of 54 kilometres at the Pacific side
of the island, according to the U.S. geological service.
The epicentre was 460 kilometres northeast of the city of Kurilsk
(Iturup Island) and 480 kilometres southwest of the city of Severo-Kurilsk
(Paramushir Island). According to the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk seismological
station, the quake was not felt in the residential sites.
The Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported
about an earthquake that occurred in the Pacific near Japan overnight. The
tremour measured 5.2 there. The epicentre was 190 kilometres away from
Yokohama and 200 kilometres from Tokyo. There were no reports about
consequences of the quake.
-0-pan
KIEV, October 31 (Itar-Tass) -- Local elections that will be held in
Ukraine this Sunday are expected to be a democracy test, European
observers say.
Undoubtedly the elections will become a test of the new power that has
been working for several months, head of the delegation of the Congress of
Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Gudrun
Mosler-Tornstrom said.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich assured that the elections would
be held under equal conditions for all the political forces. It will be an
exam for the authorities that must be passed successfully, Yanukovich
noted during the meeting with governors before the poll.
The president noted that in case of any violations from local
authorities, his reaction would be immediate.
By the way, for the Party of Regions, headed by Yanukovich, the
elections are not only a democracy test, but they will also check
population support for the president's policy.
For the young parties -- Strong Ukraine of Vice-Premier Sergei Tigipko
and the Front of Changes of Vice-Speaker Arseny Yatsenyuk, the debut
elections will be a kind of a starting ground. In the last presidential
elections, the leaders of the political forces were the third and the
fourth, respectively.
The participation of the Fatherland party headed by Ukrainian
opposition leader ex-premier Yulia Timoshenko remains the most intriguing.
During the election campaign, the party was split in many regions.
According to sociologists, in western regions many voters supporting
Timoshenko were disappointed with her and intended to vote in favour of
Oleg Tyagnibok's Freedom party.
Elections to a total of 15,000 local power bodies will be held in
Ukraine. Deputies to local councils will be elected according to the
combined majority and proportional system (50 percent in the party-list
vote and 50 percent in the majority constituency elections). In elections
of rural, village and city heads, the winner will be the candidate who
will gain most of the votes.
The Ukrainian Central Election Commission promises to announce the
results by November 5.
Deputy commission chairman Andrei Magera said the commission would not
work on the night to November 1. It is the function of regional
commissions to hold the elections and sum up the results. They will
receive reports from district commissions.
The mission of international observers CIS-EMO believes that all the
election commissions are entirely ready for the local elections in Ukraine
to be held on October 31, CIS-EMO executive director Marina Kochetkova
said on Saturday.
A mission member, political analyst Vladimir Artemenko of Russia also
noted that the mission did not find violations that could influence the
vote.
A total of 490 observers from foreign states and international
organisations and about 2,000 observers from Ukrainian public
organisations will monitor the elections in Ukraine.
According to the president, possible threat for the vote may be posed
by provocations. If no specially-prepared groups of provokers work, there
will be no problems, he believes.
More than 80,000 policemen and 4,500 servicemen of interior troops
will ensure order in the country during the vote day.
The Fatherland leader stated earlier that she would not recognise the
results of the elections in the Kiev and Lvov regions and to the Ternopol
city council, where the Freedom party gained a majority in the early
elections. Timoshenko claims that lists from false Fatherland
organisations are registered there on Yanukovich's instructions.
The Ukrainian committee of voters rules out a possibility of declaring
all the local elections invalid. There will be complaints in some regions
and attempts to declare vote results invalid in some constituencies,
committee board chairman Alexander Chernenko said. According to him, the
present version of the law on local elections does not envisage a
possibility to declare elections invalid. "Though everything can be in
Ukraine," he added.
.Earthquake measuring 5,1 strikes Kuriles area.
VLADIVOSTOK, October 31 (Itar-Tass) -- An earthquake measuring 5.1
occurred in the area of uninhabited Simushir Island on Sunday morning.
The quake took place at a depth of 54 kilometres at the Pacific side
of the island, according to the U.S. geological service.
The epicentre was 460 kilometres northeast of the city of Kurilsk
(Iturup Island) and 480 kilometres southwest of the city of Severo-Kurilsk
(Paramushir Island). According to the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk seismological
station, the quake was not felt in the residential sites.
The Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported
about an earthquake that occurred in the Pacific near Japan overnight. The
tremour measured 5.2 there. The epicentre was 190 kilometres away from
Yokohama and 200 kilometres from Tokyo. There were no reports about
consequences of the quake.
-0-pan
